I have seen both sides. Lets Stop and think for a second.

 My viewpoint on Banks, Vs. Calgary Mortgage Brokers 

Prior to my current role as a Calgary Mortgage Broker, I started my career in finance at a little bank branch in Banff.  Working my way up from a teller, I was running my own branch before I knew it.  When I moved to the city of Calgary I had to start again from the bottom learning what the big branches do differently.  I caught on quick, and soon was training others in the role of a bank lender. 

Was there an official course?  To some degree yes there was. We spent a week in a little room learning how to use the program, how to input data into the system, how to spot money laundering, and the red flags of fraud. 

There was an open book test that we had to write a test that seemed all too easy.  I did not get a licence, a certificate, nor information about any of my competitors mortgages.   Just a handful of mortgages lines and products and the push was to maximize the products to ensure they stay with the bank long term. 

To whom was I loyal?  It was designed so that my allegiance was just to the one bank, 100% to them.   They paid me, the incentivized the cross selling, it was my job to push credit to the top of the ratios.  “Would you like a pre-approved credit card with that?”  This was my all too common phrase.

Down the road I dabbled in Financial Planning, Insurance, and Investments.  For these I had to buckle down and read a book, as I actually failed the test for Securities the first time even though I studied three times as much as I did for by Bank test for lending mortgages.  After I concluded it not at all like the banks investment course, I hit the books so much harder and passed.  However I did get so many more pieces of the puzzle. 

How hard would you make the tests and course if you were trying to sell your products?  How hard would you train someone to do a job that you try to automate as much as possible through a lending program, or investment renewals?  Would that be in your best interests to train them on all the products out there?  When I was there, It was my job to sell the highest rate I could to maximize the bank profits.

If you worked for the Alberta Securities Commission and you want to make sure that people are accountable, compliance is in place would you let the banks teach and test for this?  Or would you do it yourself?  You have the world of investments out there, so you better make sure that they know what is going on.

For a mortgage, for many this debt exceeds their savings as is one of the biggest financial decisions of their life.  Who governs this if you are not with a bank?   For a Calgary Mortgage Broker, the Real Estate Council of Alberta governs all Independent mortgage brokers with a strict set of guidelines, testing procedures, and annual continuing education requirements.   This education course was in comparison nine times the information you learned for the bank.  It was in depth and all encompassing.  It did not just worry about one bank, but all the bank products, including B lenders, Mortgage investment Corporations, and Private lenders.

Before you go back an renew at your bank, or let your teller offer you their lowest mortgage rates and their best mortgage product,  why not figure out what the lowest mortgage rates in Calgary or Alberta?   Who knows what all the competition is offering?  You guessed it, a Calgary Mortgage Broker, who is Independent as that is their only job.